THURSDAY'S TREASURE - Grandmom's Earbobs

One Pair of Grandmom's Earbobs

Treasures can come in all shapes and sizes. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a treasure as follows: "(1) wealth of any kind or in any form; (2) something of great worth or value; also : a person esteemed as rare or precious; (3) a collection of precious things." I know that throughout my large extended family there are treasures of great monetary value, treasures passed on through generations and treasurers with great stories behind them. The treasure that I want to share today doesn't fit any of these descriptions. But they are precious and of great worth to me - my grandmother's earbobs.

Susie Flemming O'Donnell
wearing a pair of earbobs - 1992

Susan Elizabeth Flemming O'Donnell (1909-1999) was hoot. She told me at one of my bridal showers in 1990 that she was always invited to parties throughout her life "because she was cheaper than hiring a clown." She was the mother of eight children and the grandmother of twenty. At the time of her death she also had nineteen great-grandchildren. She had been married to the love of her life, John Huber O'Donnell (1905-1964), and was widowed when she was just 54. Her faith and her family kept her going, and she lived 35 years longer as the matriarch of my mother's family.

She was a southern lady - born and bred in Birmingham, Alabama - a product of her times. But she was also a rare, one-of-a-kind treasure to her family, friends and all who had the unique pleasure to meet her. This post can't begin to do her the justice that her life and legacy deserve. So I won't attempt. But I can share these little treasurers that I was able to pick out - after all her other treasurers were chosen - from items that my mother got after her death. These treasures are Grandmom's "earbobs".

Grandmom, as we grandchildren call her, enjoyed dressing up to go out to lunch or dinner with family and friends. She always wore a necklace or a pin, maybe a bracelet or two, with her dress - pants or slacks were not a part of her public attire. Along with her various accoutrements she always wore "earbobs".  They were clip-on earrings, usually quite large and round, and mostly not of any great monetary value.

Earbobs with Matching Pin

She seemed to have dozens of pairs to choose from. I remember as a little girl going off to her bedroom while the adults talked in the living room, and looking in her jewelry box, full of all colors and styles of jewelry. I don't remember picking anything up or trying anything on, but I probably did. Her things were bigger and bolder than the styles my mother had at home in her jewelry case. My Mom seldom wore earrings - and never wore "earbobs". So Grandmom's treasures were unique unto her.

I tried to find the origin of the term "earbob". I couldn't find when or where the word originated, but I found numerous historical museums that had "earbobs" from native Americans in their collections. I found the term used in 19th century literature, as well as in more modern books. Many fans of the movie Gone with the Wind will remember Scarlett O'Hara offering her "earbobs" to Rhett Butler for collateral for a loan (he declined). The use of the word "earbobs" continued, mostly in the South, but the word is seldom heard anymore.

But I can't look at these inexpensive clip-on earrings that I chose as a keepsake from my grandmother without remembering the giggles from me and my sisters and cousins when Grandmom made any mention of her "earbobs". We thought it was so silly a word then. Now I see the word, and the earrings - and, of course, my grandmother - all as wonderful, precious treasures.

QUESTION - Do you remember Grandmom's earbobs? Or your own grandmother's earbobs? Add your memory (or comment) below to share.

SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Father John J. Malloy (1922-2013)

Father John J. Malloy
(1922-2013)

Father John J. Malloy
"Fr. John J. Malloy, SDB, 91, died Wednesday morning, March 27, 2013, at St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco. He had been a Salesian religious for 72 years and a Catholic priest for almost 63 years.

John Malloy was born in Berkeley, California, March 17, 1922, the son of Charles and Agnes Malloy who had moved to California after their marriage in Lima, Ohio, in 1917. John was baptized on the 19th of March, 2013, at St. Ambrose Church, Berkeley. Fr. Malloy has four living sisters: Louise, Mary, Catherine and Margaret, his twin, and his brother Joseph. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Richard and his sister Rita. A host of family members mourn his death and celebrate his life.

The growing family moved to San Pablo, California, in 1929, where John Malloy met the Salesians at their House of Studies in Richmond, CA. In 1935 he joined the high school seminary of the Salesians in Richmond and graduated from high school in 1939.

In September, 1939, John Malloy was accepted into the Salesian Novitiate at Don Bosco College, Newton, NJ. On Sept. 8, 1940 he pronounced his first religious vows. In 1943, after studies in philosophy, he received his B.A. degree. From 1943 to 1946 he taught at St. John Bosco High School, Bellflower, and the Salesian House of Studies, Richmond. In the Fall of 1946 he was admitted to the Pontificio Ateneo Salesiano, in Turin, Italy, for theological studies. In 1950 he was awarded a S.T. L. in theology and was ordained a priest July 2, 1950 in Turin.

His first assignments as a young priest were in the Salesian schools of California. In 1952 he became principal of St. John Bosco High School, Bellflower, and later principal of Bishop Mora Salesian High School, Los Angeles.

Father John J. Malloy

In the 1960's he was assigned, also, to help with leadership in the Salesian province of San Francisco. In 1965 he was appointed Provincial of the western province and in 1967 transferred to Provincial of the larger Salesian province in eastern United States.

In 1973 he returned to California as President of Don Bosco Technical Institute, Rosemead, and in 1979 returned to Salesian High School, Richmond, converting the all-boys school to a co-educational Catholic high school.

In 1990, John Malloy became pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Surrey, near Vancouver, Canada. His administrative skills and his pastoral zeal added new life to the parish including his building of a youth center which influenced the lives of young people in the area.

In 2001, he returned to San Francisco as Pastor of SS. Peter and Paul Parish, San Francisco. In this multi-cultural parish, he called the parishioners to a greater sense of unity and cooperation. He supported the Archdiocese in all its activities including the Right to Life annual appeal.

The last years of his life, from 2007, were spent at Salesian High School, Richmond, very close to the area of his childhood.

On Monday, April 1, 2013 at SS. Peter and Paul Church, there will be viewing at 9:30 a.m., a Rosary at 10:00 and his Funeral Mass at 10:30 am. His interment follows at the Salesian Cemetery, Richmond, Calif. Donations in memory of Fr. John Malloy may be made to the Salesian Province, 1100 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 94109" [from San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Mar 2013]

Father John Malloy, R.I.P.
 The following was posted on Father John Malloy’s blog on Thurs., March 28 by Gibbons Cooney,  Father Malloy’s secretary at Saints Peter and Paul Church.

 "Our dear Father Malloy has fought his last fight. He went home to the Lord early on Wednesday morning (Ed note: March 27) . Readers of this blog know that he had been suffering from congestive heart failure as well as a number of other ailments natural to a man of 91. Father’s bearing of his condition was a marvelous thing to see. He was perfectly lucid right to the last, and more than once he said he was ready to go. He never complained and was amazingly cheerful. After a conversation with his doctor he agreed to go on a respirator for a few days to see if that would help his condition, after which they would take him off, and let his body take its course. He was taken off the respirator Tuesday morning, and almost immediately began to grow weaker.

Father John Malloy with Pope John Paul II

I saw him on Tuesday night, and he was quite weak physically, but not spiritually. The nurse had something nice to say to him about how easy he was to work with, and I said “Boy, Father, see what a great patient you are!” He smiled and replied with good natured sarcasm, which was his standard response to when anyone gave him a compliment: “Yeah, sure!” He passed away about 12 hours later.

Father Malloy came to us as pastor of Saints Peter and Paul in 2001. At that time he was 79 years old. It struck some of us as a little odd that a 79-year-old would be appointed to lead one of the busiest parishes in San Francisco. Well. Little did we know!

One of his first acts as pastor was to reinstitute a weekly Holy Hour. During his pastorate the entire interior of the church was refurbished top to bottom. It was cleaned and repainted. Beautiful new carpet was installed. The wood floors were refinished, and because all that beauty needed to be seen, new lights were installed. That revealed details that had not been seen for years, and even old timers were amazed. All this while celebrating weddings, baptisms, and masses beyond count.

I think it is fair to say that what Father Malloy became best known for to the wider world was his uncompromising stand against the horrific epidemic of legalized abortion and against the redefinition of marriage. Under his pastorate, Saints Peter and Paul became the pro-life and pro-family center of the Catholic Church in San Francisco, the birthplace of the Defense of Marriage movement, and the home parish of the Walk for Life West Coast. Father Malloy did not hesitate to call out Catholic politicians by name when their actions violated the most basic teachings of the Catholic faith.

Dolores Meehan tells the story of creating the March in Defense of Marriage. Back in 2004, when Gavin Newsom’s illegally started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Dolores and others wanted to create a rally to show that there were San Franciscans opposed to this. She sought the advice of Bill May, president of Catholics for the Common Good, asking “but where can I find a church that will support it?” Bill said “Well, there’s this one priest at Saints Peter and Paul…” The rest is history. When Dolores visited Father Malloy to ask him about holding a Mass and rally in defense of marriage, she didn’t get a “well, maybe…” or an “I don’t know…” or a “well, let me think about it…” As Dolo tells it, Father Malloy, with Mimi the cat on his desk, just started flipping through his desk calendar looking for a date, and said “I don’t care if I go to jail!” Father Malloy did not follow his flock. He led it.

The response to that April, 2004 rally gave Eva and Dolores and Kelly and Lisa and all the others the courage to create the Walk for Life West Coast in 2005. In that year, Father Malloy became the chaplain of the Walk for Life West Coast, a position he retained until his death. In that year he received the first annual St. Gianna Molla Award for pro-life heroism. Because no matter what, we knew Father Malloy had our back. And from those beginnings, the Walk for Life is now the second largest pro-life event in the country. Someone once told me that Deacon Jeff Burns, the historian of the archdiocese of San Francisco, was asked what was the most significant expression of Catholicism in San Francisco in recent times. He answered “It’s the Walk for Life West Coast.”

Father Malloy eventually became known all over the country for his sermons and writings in defense of the right to life and marriage, with praise and threats to prove it. But despite his powerful stands, almost everyone who met him, even those who disagreed, found in Father John a friend. With my own eyes I have seen people come into the rectory absolutely furious, and walk out a few minutes later with the words “Huh. He’s a nice guy.” When I think of Father Malloy I think of the Blessed John Paul II who was once addressing a group of young people about the evil of abortion. They told him “Why do say this to us? You know we don’t agree.” The Holy Father simply said “I love you too much to lie to you.” That was Father  John’s attitude as well.

Most of us will have heard of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Many of us will be familiar with his humble tombstone in that Cathedral, on which is written “If you seek his monument, look about you.” The whole cathedral was his monument. But while it is right and proper to see the buildings of a great architect as his monument, the monument of a Priest of God is different. The monument of a priest of God is the people he has inspired to follow Jesus Christ, to imitate Jesus Christ, and to bring others to Jesus Christ.

For as St. Peter himself tells us, the Church is made of living stones. The students he has taught and inspired, that is Father John’s monument. The people he brought into the faith, that is Fr. John’s monument. The young men and women whom he has inspired to the religious life, that is Father John’s monument. And the 50,000 people who in January peacefully, joyfully, yet firmly marched through downtown San Francisco for the littlest among us, that is Father John’s monument.

Father, may we be worthy of the sacrifices you made for us. May we continue to fight firmly and with charity, as you taught us, for life and the family. And above all, may we fulfill your dearest wish for us, to follow Jesus Christ and to live lives that will allow us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Father, we pray that you watch over us from heaven just as you always did on earth."

Funeral services for Father Malloy were held on April 1 at Saints Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco.

Saints Peter and Paul Church
San Francisco, California

Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, San Francisco, California
[The following information is taken from Wikipedia]
     "Saints Peter and Paul Church is a Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. Located (somewhat ironically) at 666 Filbert Street, it is directly across from Washington Square, San Francisco and is administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco. It is known as "La cattedrale d'Italia ovest," or "The Italian Cathedral of the West," and has served as the home church and cultural center for San Francisco's Italian-American community since its consecration.
     During 1926-1927, the church was the target of radical anti-catholic anarchists, who instituted five separate bomb attacks against the building in the space of one year.On March 6, 1927, police shot and killed one man and seriously wounded another, Celsten Eklund, a radical anarchist and local soapbox orator, as the two men attempted to light the fuse of a large dynamite bomb in front of the church. The dead man, known only as 'Ricca', was never fully identified; Eklund died of his wounds some time later without giving any information about his co-conspirators.
     In recent years, Saints Peter and Paul has also become the home church for the city's Chinese-American Roman Catholic population, offering weekly masses in Italian, Mandarin, and English. Mass in Latin is offered monthly as well.
     Saints Peter and Paul serves the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

In Popular Culture - The church is prominently featured in the Clint Eastwood movies Dirty Harry (the Church, and nearby Dante Building, are the scene of sniper attacks by the "Scorpio Killer") and The Dead Pool. Scenes from Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments were filmed at the church while it was under construction. Parts of Sister Act 2 were also filmed here.

Interior of Saints Peter and Paul Church
CLICK TO ENLARGE

     After their civil ceremony in 1954, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio returned for photographs on the steps of this church. DiMaggio was married to Dorothy Arnold in the church on November 19, 1939, but later civilly divorced. Still married as far as the Church was concerned (having not obtained an annulment), he could not be married in the Catholic Church. In a side entrance, Sts. Peter and Paul Church still showcases a photo in a book displaying proudly DiMaggio's marriage day photo-but with Arnold, not Monroe. DiMaggio's funeral was held here on March 11, 1999."
 

IT'S ALL RELATIVE

Father John Malloy is my 2nd cousin, twice removed. That sounds so distant, made up, a stretch as far as relationships go. But it's not. We are related, sharing the same set of grandparents, immigrated from France in the mid-1800's. I didn't know he existed until last night, while doing family history research. He never knew I existed. I wish I had known - he seems like quite an amazing person. So we are cousins and I wanted to share him with you. Here's how we're related:
     Father John is the grandson of Peter Brunett (1857-1908) and Clara Schmitt (1859-1903). Peter is a younger brother of Barbara Brunett (1952-1896), my great-great-grandmother.
     Father John's great-grandparents are John Michel Baptiste Brunett (1818-1863) and Barbara Frisse (1822-1893), who are my great-great-great-grandparents. John and Barbara were both born in Seingbouse, Lorraine, France. Barbara, traveling with her parents and siblings, arrived in America in July 1846. John traveled on the same ship. The Frisse family (later spelling their name Frisz) and John Brunett settled in St. Anne's Village, Jennings County, Indiana. John and Barbara married here, just 22 days after arriving in America.
     Barbara Brunett [Father John's great-aunt and my great-great-grandmother] married Phillip Huber (1847-1901) in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1871, and had 7 children including my great-grandmother Mayme Huber (1873-1913). Mayme married my great-grandfather John Martin O'Donnell (1865-1937) in 1904 in Birmingham, Alabama. John and Mayme had 4 children, including my grandfather John Huber O'Donnell (1905-1964).

IMAGINE. . . Your child and your sibling's child are first cousins; they share the same grandparents. [Father John's mother Agnes Brunett Malloy (1898-1980) and Mayme Huber O'Donnell were first cousins.]
     These 2 first cousins each have children, who are 2nd cousins to each other; they also share the same great-grandparents. [Father John and my grandfather Huber O'Donnell are 2nd cousins.]
     Children of 2nd cousins would be 3rd cousins to each other OR a child of one 2nd cousin would be "once removed" from the other 2nd cousin relationship. [Since I am a grandchild of one of the 2nd cousins, I am Father John's 2nd cousins, twice removed.]

SATURDAY'S STRUCTURE - Club Rex, Homewood, Alabama

During the mid-1930's, my grandfather John Huber O'Donnell (1905-1964) went into partnership with Bob Smith when they leased Club Rex in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Huber was a stenographer at TCI, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, a major American steel manufacturer located in Birmingham. Bob Smith was a co-worker of my "Pop" and together they had briefly owned a nightclub in downtown before taking over the lease when the country club went bankrupt.


Historic Marker in Homewood, Alabama

A popular recreational and entertainment facility, Club Rex began as Hollywood Country Club, built in the mid-1920's. It was then part of the newest subdivision being built south of Birmingham - Hollywood. The town of Hollywood was incorporated as a city in 1927. The brainchild of Clyde Nelson, Hollywood was advertised to meet a variety of needs, including health - "Out of the Smoke Zone and Into the Ozone" - and exclusivity - "one of Birmingham's most beautiful, highly restricted residential subdivisions". 

Club Rex Postcard ca. 1940

In Homewood: The Life of a City, Sheryl Spradling Summe describes the club's beginnings:

"Nelson built Hollywood Country Club on Shades Valley Highway, now Lakeshore Drive, overlooking Shades Creek where the Marriott Courtyard Hotel stands today. The large Spanish Mission-style clubhouse, with a swimming pool in the front that was a favorite place for children and teens, 'offered the finest in meals and entertainment six or seven days a week.' Although plans to add a golf course on the property were never completed. Hollywood Country Club provided members and guests 'an elite dining and dancing spot' for years....It changed ownership several times after 1930, but the building remained in existence until a fire damaged it in 1984 and subsequently it was torn down." [p. 86-87]



"Hollywood Country Club" sign added for postcard only

"Homewood added a swimming pool to its list of community recreation facilities when it began leasing the Hollywood Country Club pool in the summer of 1934. (By then the club was privately owned by G.C. Lockhart and would change hands many times in the years to come.) The popular Municipal Swimming Pool took in more than $500 during the first half of July 1934 alone. Men could rent swimsuits, and all swimmers were provided with towels. The city hired two lifeguards, Bob Purdy and Wallace Ward, at sixty-five dollars per month each and a cashier, Miss Lottie Lee Patterson, for twenty-five dollars per month...The city council allowed underprivileged children to use the municipal pool at no charge....The Summer Bus Line, which operated the Hollywood bus service originally established by Clyde Nelson, ran a shuttle to the pool from Dunn's drugstore and from Broadway at Roseland Drive, stopping at many points along the way." [p. 125]

backside of postcard

These articles appeared in Billboard magazine in 1945 [Billboard magazine, originally a trade paper for the bill-posting industry, carried news for live entertainment including vaudeville, minstrel shows, circuses, amusement parks, and fairs. Later it included news for nightclubs, and other music venues. It now carries news for music and the music industry worldwide.]


January 20, 1945 cover

"Rex, Alabama Club, Bought   Birmingham, Jan. 13 - Joe Robino, restaurant owner, has purchased for $59,500, the old Hollywood Country Club building, with five acres, a swimming pool, and new streamlined nitery equipment, including a $2,750 rotary cooker that broils 90 steaks at once. Clubhouse originally built as private country club for exclusive Hollywood residential section, has been operated on lease from foreclosures as Club Rex nitery for nine years. Club plans use of nitery entertainment and occasional guest ork." [Billboard magazine, January 20, 1945, p. 23]

July 21, 1945 cover

"Birming'm To Get 25G Club With All-Glass Blg. & Floor  Birmingham, Ala., July 16 - Birmingham steps into the big-town nitery class next month with the construction of a new $75,000 all glass club with glass dance floor and penthouse atop a circular club building. Name bands and floorshows are to be imported, according to Bob Smith, widely known nitery op promoting the project on the club membership plan with guest memberships for visitors, with 60-G already in hand. Smith operated Club Rex in Hollywood for 10 years." [Billboard, July 21, 1945, p. 27]

Poolside at Club Rex
1938

My mother has wonderful memories of summer days spent swimming at the pool at Club Rex. When she was about three-and-a-half-years-old, while swimming at the pool one day, a man came up to her and asked if he could photograph her. He picked her up and set her on a concrete bench. Later he sent her parents copies of the photographs (at right). She also had several birthday parties in the club room when she was very young. Her birthday was in December so a family member would dress as Santa Claus and visit her party each time.

The swimming pool, of course, was always a favorite place to go during the hot Birmingham summers. My mom remembers their maid would go with them and was responsible for watching she and her older brother and sister swim. A maid at that time was fairly common for families, but since she was black she would only have been able to watch the children swim from a seat - the pool itself was whites-only.



Backside of Club Rex postcard

There was an area on the lowest floor of the club, known as "The Cave Room". Here swimmers could enter in their wet bathing suits and buy burgers and eat lunch. My mother's older brother, who was five years older, worked in the Cave Room around 1944. Mom remembers giving out pool passes to friends at school during these years. She also remembers New Years Eves - her father would be out late at the club and would always bring each of the kids souvenirs from the party. When they woke up on New Years Day they would have party hats, horns and noisemakers from the night's revelry. Each year the new year would be part of the hats' decoration - "1939", "1940" etc.

My grandfather continued to work at his job with TCI while helping to run Club Rex, going over to the club after a full day at work, as did Bob Smith. For a time Bob and his wife and daughter lived on the property, in bedrooms that were part of the property, as did another partner who managed the property during the day. The property was bought by Joe Robino in 1945.

How fun it was to have a swimming pool and a night club, located less than a mile from their home, as part of your childhood memories.

SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Edward Martin Horst (1882-1916)

 

Death Notice - Edward Martin Horst
from Birmingham Age-Herald, Nov. 5, 1916

       "The remains of Edward M. Horst, who died at Asheville, N.C., Thursday afternoon, were received Saturday morning by Lige Loy. Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at St. Paul's Catholic Church at 3 p.m. and internment will be in Elmwood Cemetery. The deceased is survived by his mother, Mrs. C. F. Horst, Sr., two brothers, C. F. Horst, Jr., and O. L. Horst, and two sisters, Mrs. H. C. Flemming, and Miss Odalie Horst.
     The following will act as pallbearers: W. W. Thomas, M. R. Mullane, P. H. Anderson, D. F. Achor, C. C. Flemming, Jr., and Stanley Atkins." [from Birmingham Age-Herald, November 5, 1916]

Pearl and Ed Horst
Birmingham, AL (ca. 1896)

Edward Martin Horst was born May 5, 1882, in Mobile, Alabama. His parents, my great-great-grandparents, were Charles Frederick Horst (1856-1912) and Odalie Felice Fortier (1857-1920). He was their second child of five - older brother Charles Frederick (1880-1964); Pearl Alphonsine (1884-1961), my great-grandmother; Omer Leo (1887-1945); and Odalie "Dolly" Marie (1896-1990). The family - he, his parents, and brother Charles - moved to Cincinnati soon after he was born, for his father's health. Here his sister Pearl and brother Omer were born. Soon the family moved back to Alabama, this time to the city of Birmingham, not yet 25 years old. Father Charles' younger brother Edward (1858-1901) had already relocated here and bought a local bar - the Palace Royale.  Charles came to Birmingham to help him run it.

When Ed was 18, the 1900 U.S. Census listed his occupation as "General Plumbing". The city directory listed him in 1905 as a "Steamfitter" at the Alabama Supply Company; in 1909 the directory listed him as a "Helper" at Monarch Plumbing, Steam Heating and Supply Company. As a steamfitter he would be responsible for installing, maintaining and/or repairing pipes and piping systems for ventilation or heating systems. He remained in this profession throughout his life. He never married.

Around 1914, when Ed was about thirty-two, he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, a contagious pulmonary disease that was often fatal. It was one of the leading causes of death in the early twentieth century. An estimated 110,000 Americans died each year in the early 1900's from TB.



North Carolina Death Certificate
[click to enlarge]

Because tuberculosis was thought of as a death sentence, those infected were isolated from society and sent off to sanatoriums - hospitals designed to care specifically for tuberculosis sufferers. Before antibiotic treatments existed, a regiment of rest and good nutrition offered the best chances that a sufferer's immune system would "wall off" pockets of the TB infection and be cured.



Tuberculosis, known as consumption in the 19th century because it seemed to consume the patient's body, is evidenced by chronic cough, blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats and weight loss. In January 1915 Edward was sent to Asheville, North Carolina, to the St. Joseph Sanatorium run by the Sisters of Mercy. Asheville, the county seat of Buncombe County, is situated in western North Carolina.

Ed stayed at St. Joseph's for 1 year and 10 months, according to his North Carolina Death Certificate. He died on November 2nd of 1916 at 1:15 in the afternoon. The official cause of death was "Hemorrhage from lung"; the secondary cause was listed as "Tuberculosis of lungs".  The death certificate stated he had suffered from TB for "about 3 years".  He was just 34 and a half when he died.

The following day, Friday, Ed's body was put on the train and taken to Birmingham. It arrived the next morning, Saturday, and he was buried Sunday, November 5th after services were held at St. Paul's Catholic Church. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery next to his mother and father.


Headstone - Elmwood Cemetery
Birmingham, Alabama

Asheville as a Health Retreat
[taken in part from the National Park Service 'National Register of Historic Places' website]
"As far back as 1795 records show that the Asheville area was regarded as a place to come heal oneself of ills. The climate was regarded to be optimal--the components (temperature, barometric pressure, etc.) were actually measured by physicians who wanted to determine the best place for patients to recuperate. A long line of physicians came to Asheville, some to convalesce themselves, and ended up staying, building practices and promoting Asheville as a health retreat. From the late 1880s to the 1930s Asheville rose in prominence as a curative place for tuberculosis. 

Biltmore House postcard
[click to enlarge]

One of Asheville's greatest promoters was Dr. S. Westray Battle who came to Asheville in 1885 and turned out to be, perhaps, the most influential doctor to come to the area. Through his connections and reputation, many wealthy individuals and families came and ended up staying in Asheville. Among them was George Vanderbilt, who accompanied his ailing mother. While in Asheville, Vanderbilt fell in love with the area and returned to build his now famed Biltmore Estates. Edwin W. Grove also came to Asheville as one of Battle's patients and stayed on to build Grove Park Inn.

Grove Park Inn postcard
[click to enlarge]

In 1900, there was only one sanitarium available, the Winyah, with 60 beds. The rest of the patients that came to Asheville stayed in boarding houses that had open air sleeping porches, thought to be necessary for recovery. Between 1900 and 1910, the number of sanitaria and boarding houses greatly increased. These sanitaria and boarding houses were usually on the outskirts of town, but as Asheville grew, they came to be within the city limits.

By 1930, Asheville bragged 20 tuberculosis specialists and 25 sanitaria with a total of 900 beds. But with the rise of state care and the depressed economy, the market for the private sanitaria had dwindled. During the 1930s and 1940s the sanitaria and boarding houses for tuberculosis patients closed with just a few remaining into the 1950s. As antibiotic treatment was introduced in the late 1950s, sanitariums were rarely needed.

Asheville is still a health center where people come for specialized treatment. Mission-St. Joseph's Hospital and the many specialists located nearby have made Asheville the prime medical center for Western North Carolina."

Sisters of Mercy and St. Joseph Sanatorium

St. Joseph Sanatorium
Asheville, North Carolina (ca. 1920s)

The Sisters of Mercy was founded in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley in 1831. Unlike other orders of religious women, McAuley didn't want her community to be cloistered; she wanted her order to work among the poor. Members of her order came to America in 1841 to continue the mission. The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Asheville in the mid-1800s, at the request of the local Bishop, to establish a boarding school. With poor enrollment the school building became the site of a hospital to serve tuberculosis patients, at the urging of the Sisters. In November 1900 the Sisters of Mercy opened St. Joseph Sanatorium.
 Over the years the Sisters had to relocate the hospital to meet the needs of the growing number of patients coming into Asheville. From 1900-1905 the hospital was located at 40 French Broad Avenue. The facility had 18 beds. From 1906-1909 the hospital was moved to a larger home on Starnes Avenue, a building with many open porches - a characteristic common among facilities serving tuberculosis patients. In 1909 the hospital moved to a twenty-two acre parcel located on Biltmore Avenue. There were objections from neighbors who thought the sanatorium would lower property values and they obtained a court injunction to keep them from operating. The judge ruled in favor of the Sisters, stating that the benefit to the community far outweighed the fear of contagion.


St. Joseph Sanatorium postcard
[click to enlarge]

 The Biltmore Avenue location underwent changes. The building was able to house 20 patients in the main house and more in the two out-buildings which were used as patients prepared for discharge. The facility expanded twice more before 1938. These additions increased the size of the building to now accommodate 95 patients, and added an administrative wing.

In 2000 the Sisters of Mercy sold the hospital to Memorial Mission Hospital, forming Mission Hospital Systems. Both hospitals had been run by women during a time when that was very rare. Doctors had been hired to work at the hospital but the mission was always to service the sick, the poor, those in need. That mission continues today.



 

SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Jacob H. Fermier (1881-1932)

The Birmingham News; Feb. 5, 1932

Fall Proves Fatal

Jacob Fermier, Prominent in Mobile Carnival, Succumbs to Injuries

"Jacob H. Fermier, 45, engaged in the real estate business and prominent in the Infant Mystic, a Mardi gras carnival society, died at a hospital Thursday from injuries received in a fall down an elevator shaft Thursday night. Fermier was engaged in the work of sending out tickets to the annual ball of the society and went to the rear of the building and in the darkness stumbled into the elevator shaft which had been left open." [The Birmingham News; February 5, 1932]



Mobile Register, Feb. 5, 1932

Jacob Fermier Dies from Fall in Building Here

Mobile Real Estate Firm Employee Fatally Injured in Plunge Down Shaft

"Jacob H. Fermier, about 45 years of age, an employe (sic) of Hermann & Hynde real estate firm, died at City hospital early this morning from head injuries received when he fell one floor down an elevator shaft of a building on Exchange alley, located off Water, between St. Michael and St. Francis streets, used as headquarters for the Infant Mystics. The accident occurred about 7 o'clock Thursday night.
     Mr. Fermier, with three other members of the ticket committee of the society, was preparing tickets for their Mardi Gras dance Monday night. He left his duties to retire to the rear part of the headquarters.
     Other members of the committee, alerted when Mr. Fermier did not return within a reasonable time, began an investigation. Their attention was attracted by groans, and further investigation revealed Mr. Fermier lying on the concrete floor below at the foot of the shaft.
     He was taken to the hospital, where he died within a few hours." [Mobile Register; February 5, 1932]

Mobile Register, Feb. 6, 1932

Rites for Mr. Fermier

Mobilian Killed in Fall Thursday Night to be Buried Today

     "Funeral services for Jacob H. Fermier, lifelong resident of Mobile who died early yesterday morning from injuries in a fall down an elevator shaft in the Infant Mystic headquarters on Exchange alley, will be held at 9 o'clock this morning at Roche mortuary and at 9:30 o'clock at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception with mass. Internment will be in Magnolia cemetery.
     Mr. Fermier is survived by a sister, Mrs. B.J. Echenrode, (sic) of Emmitsburg, Md, an aunt, Mrs. R.A. Sands, of Mobile, an uncle, Victor Fermier, of Texas, and other relatives." [Mobile Register, February 6, 1932]


Jacob Henry Fermier was born August 11, 1881, in Mobile, Alabama. His parents were Jacob Fermier (1852-1889), a plumber and gas-fitter, originally from Bavaria, and Anna Berg (1851-1907). Anna, my great-great-great aunt, was the daughter of Tobias Berg (1819-1853) and Apollonia Weinschenk (1829-1908), both immigrants from Germany. Apollonia is my 3x-great-grandmother. [Tobias was her first husband with whom she had four children, including Anna; her second husband was Martin Horst (1830-1878), my 3x-great-grandfather, with whom she had 8 children including my great-great-grandfather Charles F. Horst.]

J. Fermier (ca. 1905)
from Erik Overby collection
University of South Alabama Collection

Young Jacob, known as 'Jack', was the oldest of the two children of Jacob and Anna. His younger sister, Annie, was born October 13, 1887. Jack and Annie lost their father when they were very young - Jack was just 8 years old, Annie was not yet two. To help support the family their mother opened her home to boarders, housing men, as many as 7-8 at their home at 209 Conti Street. Anna died in 1907 after suffering a stroke. [Annie J. Fermier, Jack's younger sister, married Bernard Eckenrode, a professor at Spring Hill College, in 1914 and moved with him to Emmitsburg, Maryland. Here they had one daughter, Anna Eckenrode (1918-2002). In 1937 Annie died at her home in Maryland; she was just 49 at the time of her death.]

Jack never married. He was employed with Hermann & Hynde Real Estate in Mobile. He also was involved in the Infant Mystics. The Infant Mystics is the second oldest of the numerous mystic societies that celebrate Mardi Gras each year in Mobile (much like krewes in New Orleans). The Infant Mystics dates back to 1868, at which time they held their parade on Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday) night. They have since changed the date of their parade to Mundi Gras (fat Monday).


Original emblem of Infant Mystics

Membership in the mystic societies is secret. Each year during Carnival Season, the mystic societies parade in costumes on their individual floats through downtown Mobile, tossing small gifts to spectators along the parade route. Each society also holds its own masquerade ball each year. These balls are almost always by invitation only, and attendees must abide by the strict dress code - usually elegant evening gowns for ladies and white-tie and tails for men. The ball usually continues the theme of the year, which is also depicted on their floats.


Jack was buried with his mother and father at Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile. It's interesting to note that the newspaper gives his age as 45. He was actually 50 years old at the time of his death.

Grave of Fermier Family
Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama

WEDNESDAY'S WEDDING - Horst - Dilworth Wedding, June 1904

On June 29, 1904, Eliza Loy Dilworth married Charles Frederick Horst in Birmingham, Alabama. She was 19. He was 23. Here is their story.

Eliza Loy Dilworth

Eliza was born February 18, 1885, in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of coal mine owner John Edmond Dilworth (1858-1930) and his wife Mary Eliza Loy (1862-1933). John was born in New Jersey; Mary was born in New York City, New York. They had settled first in Damascus, Pennsylvania, where they started their family of four children. The family had relocated to Alabama by the turn of the century.

Charles was born in Mobile, Alabama, on November 15, 1880. He was the oldest son of five children born to my great-great-grandparents Charles Frederick Horst (1856-1912) and Odalie Felice Fortier (1857-1920). Charles was the older brother of my great-grandmother Pearl Alphonsine  Horst Flemming (1884-1961). Charles and Odalie had first moved from Mobile to Cincinnati, Ohio, for health reasons, and lived with his paternal aunt's family for a while. The family then settled for good in Birmingham.

By the late 1880's Birmingham was the primary site of coal mining in the state of Alabama. Walker County, located northwest of Birmingham, was second. This may have been where Eliza and Charles first met. The 1900 U.S. Census shows that Charles was living in a boarding house in the mining town of Corona in Walker County, working as a stenographer for a coal mining company. The same census shows that Eliza was also living in Corona with her parents and three siblings; her father listed his occupation as "Superintendent - Coal".


Wedding Photo of Eliza Dilworth
June 1904

This wedding picture (left) was one of several family photos that my father had, that were left by Grider Horst (1908-1995), their daughter and oldest of their two children. I searched the local papers for a write-up that would describe their wedding but found nothing. Most personal or social events, even most obituaries, weren't published in our city's newspapers in 1904, but there were some. Unfortunately, in the case of the Horst-Dilworth wedding I could find none.

Charles and Eliza settled in Birmingham, living first in the Highlands section of town, along with her brother John Fulton Dilworth (1888-1942) at 2930 Pawnee Avenue. Later they moved to the Hollywood section of Homewood, a suburb outside of the city, on the English side of Poinciana Drive. Charles continued working in coal sales, first with Grider Coal Sales Company (after which he named his daughter) and later owned his own company, C. F. Horst & Company, where he was quite successful. He and Eliza had two children - Frances Grider (b. Dec. 23, 1908) and Charles Frederick Jr. (b. Nov. 10, 1911). The Horsts were lifelong members of Highland Methodist Church.

Charles and Eliza Horst - Still in Love (ca. 1935)
At Home on Their Front Porch Swing - Pawnee Avenue

Charles retired in 1945 and he and his wife, along with daughter Grider, moved to Tampa, Florida. After 56-years of marriage, Eliza passed away on September 17, 1960. She had been visiting her son and his wife in Birmingham when she died. She was 75 years old. Eliza was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.


Day after Eliza's Funeral
September 18, 1960 - Elmwood Cemetery

On September 2, 1964, Charles died at his home in Tampa. He was eighty-three. He was buried next to his beloved wife in Elmwood. Charles died at age 72, on April 29, 1984. His wife Kathryn Olsafski (b. December 30, 1917) died June 2, 1999, at the age of 81. Having returned to Birmingham after the death of her father, Grider passed away on April 1, 1995. She was eighty-six. No grandchildren were born. Charles, wife Kathryn, and his sister Grider are buried at Elmwood Cemetery, next to their parents.

SATURDAY'S STRUCTURE - Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham, AL

The oldest section of Elmwood Cemetery
Birmingham, Alabama

Elmwood Cemetery is located on 412 acres on Martin Luther King Drive in Birmingham, Alabama. It is the resting place of over fifty members of the Flemming, Horst, and O'Donnell families, to name a few.

Originally established in 1900 as "Elm Leaf Cemetery", its name was changed in 1910 to Elmwood. It was developed by several groups of fraternal organizations in the city who saw a need for a second burial ground for the city's dead, beginning with 286 acres of property. It wasn't long before it eclipsed the city's first cemetery, Oak Hill, as the most popular cemetery in town.

It's not surprising that Elmwood Cemetery was a "whites-only" cemetery for much of the past century. Not until 1970 were blacks allowed to purchase burial plots to bury their loved ones here. [See story below]

Elmwood Cemetery, like most cemeteries across the country, has sections that are dedicated solely for Catholics, solely for Jews, and solely for Greeks, to name a few. There are also several large Mausoleums on the property.

Gravesite of Charles and Odalie Horst - Block 9, Elmwood Cemetery

The first relative buried at this Elmwood appears to be my great-great-grandfather Charles F. Horst (1856-1912), buried on August 31, 1912 - 100 years ago. Other members of the Horst family buried beside him include Charles' wife (my great-great-grandmother) Odalie Fortier (1857-1920), and two of their sons: Edward Horst (1882-1916), who never married, and Omer Horst (1887-1945). They are buried in Block 9 - part of the oldest section of the cemetery.

Charles & Odalie's oldest son Charles F. Horst (1880-1964) and his wife Eliza Dilworth (1885-1960) are buried nearby in Block 17. Buried with them are their daughter Grider Horst (1908-1995) and son Charles F. Horst, Jr.(1911-1994), along with his wife Kathryn Olsafski (1917-1999).

Final Resting Place of Harry & Pearl Flemming
Block 4, Elmwood Cemetery

Charles & Odalie Horst's oldest daughter Pearl Horst (1884-1961) and her husband Harry Flemming (1878-1955) - my great-grandparents - are buried under a tree in Block 4.

Five of Harry & Pearl's 8 children are buried together in Block 29 along with their spouses and other family members, including:

• daughter Pearl (1907-1986) and her husband William Barriger (1904-1979);
• daughter Susie (1909-1989) and husband Huber O'Donnell (1905-1964), my grandparents;
• son Harry (1913-1972) and his wife Fredericka Perry (1913-1967);
• son Jack (1918-2008) and his wife Georgia Rice (1918-2005);
• daughter Ann (1923-2012), her husband Aubrey Pilkerton (1925-1999), and their son Aubrey Pilkerton, Jr. (1949-1998);
• granddaughter Mary Ann Selman (1944-2001).

Block 44 is the final resting place for Frank Selman (1920-2012), husband of Harry & Pearl's last surviving daughter. Also buried here are their daughter and son-in-law Kathie (1951-2011) and Alan Holmes (1936-2009). [Daughter Mary Ann is buried in Block 29 - see above]

Headstone for Elizabeth "Lizzie" McCaffrey Flemming
Block 7, Elmwood Cemetery

Buried in Block 7 are the first Flemmings to settle in Birmingham, another set of my great-great-grandparents, Charles Flemming (1854-1932) and Elizabeth McCaffrey (1858-1922). Four of their eleven children are buried along side them including:

• daughter Imo Thompson (1886-1919);
• daughter Lottie McMurray (1891-1937);
• son Thomas (1896-1919);
• (son Harry is buried in Block 29 - see above; son James is buried in Block __ - see below; daughter Sarah is buried in Block 32 - see below)

Also buried close-by in Block 7 is a sister of Elizabeth McCaffrey Flemming. Agnes McCaffrey O'Brien (1879-1919), along with her husband Edward O'Brien (1867-1922)

Another child of Charles and Elizabeth Flemming, son James (1889-1932) is buried in Block 42. Buried beside him is his wife Elizabeth Cahalan (1891-1972). Also buried here are their children: daughter Elizabeth (1914-1982); son Charles (1915-1932); daughter Catherine (1911-1985) and her husband Fred Caver (1905-1975); and son Frank (1924-2003) and his wife Sally Sherrill (1928-2010);

Charles & Elizabeth Flemming's youngest daughter Sarah (1893-1963) and her husband James Thomas (1891-1954) are buried in Block 32. Buried along side them is their only child Delore (1917-1999), along with her husband James Roper (1914-1993).

Buried in Block 10 is Charlotte McCaffrey Morris (1875-1925). Lottie is another sister of my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth McCaffrey Flemming. Buried with her are her husband William Morris (1868-1955), their son William (1903-1924) and daughter Charlotte Rainey (1906-1996). Infant son Joseph (1904-1904) was buried in an unmarked grave in Block 4.

Buried in Block 24 are a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law of Huber & Susie Flemming O'Donnell. Celeste Rafalsky O'Donnell (1950-2008) is buried alongside her parents and brother. In the same block but at a different location is buried my father William A. Powell, Jr. (1929-2009).

Block 22 is the site of the burial place of Karl McCaffrey (1889-1950), nephew of Elizabeth McCaffrey Flemming, and his wife Tennie Williams (1899-1978).

Integrating Elmwood: "Terry vs. Elmwood Cemetery"

 Elmwood Cemetery, a whites-only cemetery since its beginning, has been open to all races due to a lawsuit filed in federal district court in 1969 - "Terry vs. Elmwood Cemetery". On July 3, 1969, a soldier named Bill Terry, Jr. was killed in Vietnam, dying from a fragment wound to his chest, sustained in combat near Xuan Loc. Because of his honorable Army record he was given the traditional military escort back to his home in Birmingham, where his body was taken to Elmwood Cemetery to begin the internment process. When Terry's widow and mother attempted to buy a burial plot for his remain, they were refused by the cemetery manager. The reason? Bill Terry was black. Since other funeral arrangements were already in place, his widow and mother purchased a plot at the traditionally black cemetery of Shadow Lawn Memorial Park.

About this time, another African-American - Belvin Stout - was denied purchase of a burial plot at Elmwood and joined Terry's widow and mother in filing suit in federal district court against the cemetery. In making their decision for the plaintiffs the court struck down all of the cemetery's rules and regulations regarding discrimination based on race. Following the ruling, along with local and national support, Bill Terry's body was exhumed and reburied at Elmwood Cemetery on January 3, 1970. Twelve hundred marchers followed his body from Our Lady of Fatima Church to the cemetery. His remains now rests at Elmwood - just as he asked his family to do in case anything happened to him, just before leaving for Vietnam. [from" Integrating the City of the Dead: The Integration of Cemeteries and the Evolution of Property Law, 1900-1969",  Alabama Law Review, May 23, 2005, pages 1153-1166]

FRIDAY'S FAMOUS - Omer Albert Fortier (1890-UNK), alias "Kid Doe"

New Orleans' "Kid Doe" - ever heard of him? If you were around the Big Easy in the early 1900's he was quite the "character", as one city newspaper described him. He was a notorious pickpocket, thief, and "one of the shrewdest crooks in the city", according to the police at the time. Omer Albert Fortier, alias "Kid Doe," is my 1st cousin, 3x removed. And since Friday's post topic is either 'Famous' or 'Forgotten', today's post will be more about my 'Infamous" relative, that I'm sure no one in the whole family has ever heard of before.

Omer Albert Fortier was born on January 10, 1890, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were Omer Auguste Fortier (1855-1897) and Laura Octavia Eslava (1859-1910), she a native of Mobile, Alabama. [Omer Auguste was the 6th child and oldest son of my 3rd great grandparents Jacques Omer Fortier (1813-1867) and Augustine Melanie Laperle Degruey (1822-1872). He was the older brother of my great-great-grandmother Odalie Felice Fortier Horst (1857-1920).] Omer and Laura had six children - five girls and Omer, their 5th child, their only son. Omer's sisters were Pearl C. (1881-1911), Elodie Corrine (1883-1884), Elonie Leonia (1885-1949), Odille L. (1887-1956),  and Lucille (1893-1969).

Young Omer was born in a New Orleans very different from the one his father was born in before the Civil War. Omer's father was a clerk, according to numerous City Directories. He was also a businessman and at one point ran a gambling house at 100 Customhouse Street (now Iberville Street), in the city's "Red Light District".  It was here in April 1888, two years before his son was born, that Omer Auguste was shot in a dispute with his former 'partners'. He was only slightly wounded, sustaining a minor shoulder wound, and survived his injuries. But death was just a few years away for the elder Fortier - he died on April 13, 1897, at the age of 41. He left behind his wife Laura, 38, and five young children (daughter Elodie had died at the age of 1 in 1884). At the time of his death the surviving children ranged in age from their oldest Pearl, 16, to youngest Lucille, just 4 years old. Omer was 7 when his father died. [NOTE: Omer Auguste was just 12 years old when his own father, Jacques Omer, died.]

Life for Laura Fortier and her young family from this point on was no doubt very difficult, with the breadwinner of the family now gone. The 1900 U.S. Census reports that both Laura and daughter Pearl were worked as dressmakers. Ten years later the Census showed Laura still had all five children living at home with her - ages 28 to 17 - and that no one was employed. [It's interesting to note that Laura died in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama on May 22, 1910, even though she was listed as a resident of New Orleans in the 1910 Census, enumerated on May 25, 1910, three days after she died.]




from New Orleans Item;
Jan. 26, 1913; p.9

In 1917, when registering for the draft during WWI, Omer was 27 years old and was unemployed; he gave his profession, as his father had done, as 'clerk'. But it was several years before the draft when Omer's true profession was noted in the city's newspapers. In January 1913, at just 23 years of age, Omer was arrested by city police for working with an inmate - known pickpocket Edward Klein. It was discovered that Omer had arranged for a lawyer to bail Klein out of jail. A Times-Picayune newspaper article called Omer a 'Promoter', claiming he induced Klein and other criminals to come to New Orleans where he would help them in their crimes. In turn, "Kid Doe" would receive a portion of their take. For helping Klein, he was sentenced to a $20 fine and incarceration for 9 days.

December 1913 another news story reported that Omer Fortier was being arraigned in court. He had been arrested earlier in the day at the public funeral for a popular local politician, where he was working with a "gang" of pickpockets. He also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest from Dallas, Texas, where he was wanted for larceny.

from New Orleans States, July 12, 1917; page 4

No doubt, Omer continued his criminal behavior in the months and years to come. Finally, in June 1917 "Kid Doe" was arrested for shoplifting 12 silk ties, and the next month was arrested again for stealing a $25 dress. These crimes were each reported in the New Orleans State newspaper. In August the paper reported that Omer had joined 19 other convicted criminals when they were taken to Baton Rouge State Penitentiary.



from New Orleans Item;
August 31, 1917

Upon entering the prison, a description of Omer was listed in the record as follows:

     27.   5'9".  139 pounds.  Sallow Complextion.  Dark Brown Hair.  Brown Eyes.  Round face.   No Lobe on right ear.  Eagle Tattoo, right forearm.   Red Scar, lower left leg above ankle.   Small Brown Splotches, left upper arm.  No. 6 1/2 shoe.
 

Omer had been sentenced to 1 year minimum, 2 years maximum. He arrived August 31, 1917. Prison records show he escaped on October 8, 1918. He also escaped on February 28, 1919. He was released from prison on August 31, 1919, having served his full sentence.

Where he went after he was discharged is unknown. His name doesn't appear in any Censuses in the future. He must not have lived long enough to have a Social Security Number to be able to document his death from these records. Did he get married? Have children? Did he leave America, or maybe just change his name to escape his past? There's so much more to Kid Doe's story. Maybe someone out there knows something.